


As The World Caves In

by lifecaughtinyoursway



Category: Glee
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, cw language, s5e15, tw blood, tw slurs, tw violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:07:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26354683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lifecaughtinyoursway/pseuds/lifecaughtinyoursway
Summary: "I hate you, we're enemies, but I show up injured at your door because I didn't know where else to go."
Relationships: Kurt Hummel/Sebastian Smythe, Past Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel - Relationship
Comments: 5
Kudos: 115





	As The World Caves In

**Author's Note:**

> (If this has been done for this ship, I haven't seen it! I don't read much kurtbastian but it's definitely not my own prompt or extremely original)

It was dark and stormy, which felt like a cliche but fuck, Sebastian didn't control the weather. He didn't seem to control much, actually. 

The wind whipped through his hair and chilled him to the bone through his thin t-shirt. He stood in the doorway of his apartment building, a little annoyed that someone had woken him up in the middle of the night and significantly more annoyed that his landlord hadn't fixed the buzzer system so he had to go all the way downstairs to let them in. Sebastian could have rolled over and gone back to sleep- he wasn't expecting anyone so it was on them if they had to stand out in the rain. It served them right for trying to buzz up instead of just texting him. But alas, he was curious, and ventured out without bothering to do more than throw some sneakers on. 

And so he stood there, in the doorway, rain blowing into the lobby and starting to soak his sweatpants, but the nighttime visitor was the last person he would have ever expected. 

"Kurt Hummel?" He asked, so confused he didn't even plaster on his signature smirk to accompany the question. The man in question was absolutely drenched. It took him a moment to even recognize him, water pouring down his face. Seb doubted he would've looked much better dry. A gash began just above his left eyebrow and extended deep into his hairline. His right eye was already beginning to bruise, a tell tale sign of an imminent black eye, and he was shaking violently. Head to toe in black -jeans, boots, and jacket over a once crisp shirt- Sebastian couldn't tell whether from the chill or concealed injuries. 

After a stunned moment, Kurt motioned with his head and Sebastian stepped aside to usher him into the building. Kurt tracked a puddle of rainwater onto the linoleum floors, squinting under the harsh fluorescent lights. It couldn't have been more than a few seconds since he opened the door, but Sebastian felt like he had been waiting for eons to hear why Kurt was there, of all places. 

Instead, Kurt turned to him, unsteady on his feet. "I'm sorry. I was just down the street and I-"

With that, his eyes rolled back into his head and he crumpled to the floor. 

Seb rolled his own eyes, though far more intentionally. He knelt down at Kurt's side. Cold water from the tile seeped into his pants. "Hey, Hummel, wake up," he said unhelpfully, shaking Kurt's shoulder a little. After a moment, he shook him again. When this, unsurprisingly, proved ineffective and Kurt didn't open his eyes, he went for a harsher approach. 

"Kurt, I swear to god, if you bleed out and die in my lobby I'm definitely not getting my security deposit back." Sebastian slapped Kurt's face, not extremely aggressively, but enough to shift his head from resting on one shoulder to the other. He still didn't react, though Sebastian noted how much his rain soaked cheek felt cold and slick like a dead fish. 

Hauling himself to his feet, Sebastian considered his next move. As much as he might have enjoyed it he couldn't very well leave Kurt on the floor. The only reasonable option seemed to be the one that'd, unfortunately, involve the most time and energy of Seb. He accepted this begrudgingly and bent down again, this time grabbing Kurt by one elbow and hoisting the one arm around his shoulders.

Sebastian had a couple inches on Kurt, but he'd underestimated how heavy a dead-to-the-world Hummel could be. He only made it a few feet before sighing dramatically and hooking an arm under Kurt's legs to carry him. Cradled this close to his chest, Seb could thankfully see he was still breathing, at least. 

At the elevator, Sebastian nudged the up arrow with his hip. 'Thank god the elevator's working again,' he thought ruefully. He was already regretting this decision as Kurt's waterlogged clothes weighed him down and drenched him, and if he had had to take seven flights by foot he might have been tempted to just ditch him in a stairwell until morning. The elevator finally clattered down to the lobby and Seb half dragged half carried Kurt into it. He took the elevator ride as an opportunity to pray that none of his neighbors were taking a midnight stroll. He wasn't sure how he'd explain the situation he'd gotten himself into. 

Luckily enough, they made it back to his place without running into any nosy night owls. Sebastian flung Kurt rather unceremoniously on the bed and immediately stripped off his shirt, crossing to the bathroom to dry off a bit. He'd deal with the comatose countertenor in a minute. He startled himself upon first glance in the mirror. The shirt he held and sweatpants he wore looked almost tie dyed with pale red. Seb quickly realized it was blood, of course, but a quick once-over proved that none of it was his own. 

He padded back out to his bed, where a still Kurt was rapidly leaching a mix of rainwater and blood onto Sebastian's comforter. His dark attire had concealed what Sebastian could now see clearly on his pale gray sheets: a gruesome amount of blood.

o-o-o-o-o

Kurt's eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the soft lighting. His head pounded and when he reached up to his forehead he found a deep cut that no doubt contributed to the headache. His hair, usually perfectly coiffed, had deflated and stuck to his skin a little as it dried. As he ran his fingers through it, however, it felt clean and free from the gnarly combination of blood sweat and rain that he last remembered soaking it. In fact, he felt much warmer and cleaner than he had before he had lost consciousness. 

"Well, you're not dead." Sebastian called from the bathroom doorway, startling Kurt from his thoughts. He had clearly just hopped out of the shower, hair wet and a towel wrapped loosely around his waist.

Kurt groaned, remembering where he had dragged himself. "Don't sound so disappointed." 

"Pardon me if I'm not a little more enthusiastic to be woken up in the middle of the night only to have to drag a blood-soaked, turtle-faced, less-than friend through my building." Kurt rolled his eyes, but he supposed he deserved that one. 

"Blood soaked might be a stretch," he retorted. "I distinctly remember a lot of rain between the incident and reaching your apartment."

"Tell that to my sheets, Hummel." Sebastian gestured to the very bed that he lay in. Kurt's cheeks flushed, both at the unmistakable blood smeared across them and because that meant he was in Seb's bed of all places. "And tell that to the sneakers you ruined." Across the room, Kurt caught a glimpse of a pile of clothes, what looked like Sebastian's stained pajamas and sneakers from earlier and his ensemble. 

"Oh please, Daddy's money can't buy you another pair?" Kurt bit back. Sebastian bristled noticeably, and he immediately regretted the nasty comment. He had just gone out of the way to help him, after all. "I'm sorry. For that, and for showing up out of nowhere. I panicked." 

Kurt sat up a little more and propped himself against the headboard. A slight chill ran through him as he slid out from under the comforter. He looked down and found his chest battered and bruised, and most importantly, bare. 

"Hold on, why exactly am I not wearing a shirt?" He felt compelled to cover up, though clearly it wasn't anything Sebastian hadn't seen before.

Seb crossed to a nearby couch and sat leisurely, still clad only in a towel. "Well, for starters, I didn't want you staining anymore of my linens. That, and I suppose it wouldn't have been great if you had caught pneumonia or something." 

"Gee, you almost sounded like you cared for my well being there." 

"That or I didn't feel like disposing of a body tonight." Something in his tone didn't convince Kurt that he was entirely kidding. "It's not a big deal, someone had to clean up you and your scrawny chest and your obnoxious hair before you bled out all over my apartment." That explained the hair. Though, to Kurt, it was a big deal. 

"...Thank you. You didn't have to do that." He said. And for the first time there was no note of animosity, only earnestness.

Sebastian snorted. "Didn't leave me much choice, did you?"

Kurt opened his mouth to respond, but Seb silenced him with a half hearted wave. "Whatever, what's done is done. Enough about me, what the hell happened to you?"

"I, uh." Suddenly now that he was about to say it aloud, it sounded ridiculous. "I sort of, um, charged into an alley to try to break up a fight?" 

Sebastian couldn't help the laugh that bubbled to the surface. "You? 'Lady Hummel' broke up a fight? I don't buy it." 

"Key word here is try," Kurt said. He attempted to stand and winced as pain flared through his ribs, falling back onto the bed. "I tried to break up a fight. It didn't go very well, clearly."

"But why?" Sebastian sat next to him on the bed, grabbing his outstretched arms to help him into a sitting position. All at once he seemed acutely aware that he was basically nude. Hastily closing himself in a walk in closet, he continued, "why not just call the cops or something? Unless it was a bunch of thirteen year olds I doubt you'd stand a chance on your own." His words were harsh, but there was less bite behind them this time.

The response was so quiet the door muffled it. "What?" Seb asked, emerging in a new t shirt and shorts. He tossed Kurt a sweatshirt which he gratefully accepted. 

Kurt sighed. "He was gay. The one guy was, I mean." 

"I don't understand. What does that have to do with anything?" Sebastian said, frowning. "Though I can't imagine how you could have figured that out just by happening upon a random fight in the dark-"

Suddenly he realized. "Oh."

"Yeah," Kurt said grimly. "I didn't have a choice, they were going to kill him. It was two against one. It's not like he was as big as the other guys either." His posture had deflated and expression gone somber. Sebastian crossed to his side again and awkwardly put a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort. To both's surprise, Kurt leaned in and Sebastian put his arm around him. 

After a moment, Seb broke the silence. "How...how is he? The other guy, I mean. Where'd he end up?"

"I don't know. The second I got to them, the guys let go of him and he took that opportunity to bolt. Not that those guys cared." Kurt spit. "One queer's as good as another, right?"

Sebastian's blood started to boil. "That fucking coward! You save his life, and for what? He runs off and leaves you to get your ass kicked? Some fucking gratitude." He reflexively clenched Kurt's shoulder tighter and he yelped. 

"Jesus Sebastian!" He shrugged out of the side hug of sorts, rubbing his shoulder. "Still a little beat up over here if you didn't notice." To his credit, Seb did manage to look genuinely apologetic.

"God, I'm sorry. Misplaced anger I guess." 

"It's fine. They only had me for a minute anyway. A couple solid kicks to the ribs, one clocked me in the eye, and of course the other had a knife," he said, gesturing to the cut on his head and another on his forearm with a nonchalance that terrified Sebastian. "Not very good with it, clearly, he didn't manage to hit much of substance. A car's headlights spooked them and they took off before they could do much damage, honestly." The events of the evening seemed to suggest otherwise, but Seb decided not to bring it up. 

An awkward silence fell again. Kurt fidgeted with the cuffs of the sweatshirt. Clearly they had come to an impasse, but neither knew how to proceed.

"I don't understand," Sebastian said finally, softly. "Why here, of all places? I didn't even know you knew I was in the city, let alone lived here." He had barely been in touch with Blaine since he started at NYU. Kurt hadn't said a word to him since high school, and he had quite honestly been fine with that.

Kurt's voice was even smaller and softer, if that was possible. "I was just down the street, that much was true. Just a couple blocks. And the only reason I even remembered you lived in the area was Blaine, he pointed out the building once and I happened to recognize it through the rain. It was a hail Mary of sorts, I don't know." 

When Sebastian didn't speak, Kurt knew he wasn't buying it. The only explanation he had left was the truth. "Fine. I...I didn't know where else to go." This, Seb seemed to accept. Even so, he still looked confused, pushing off the bed to pace back and forth slowly. 

"Well your fiancée might have been a good place to start." He said dryly. "I checked, your phone still works. A little water under the screen protecter, of course, but nothing little rice couldn't fix. Actually, you should probably call him, I'm sure he's worried about-"

"Ex."

Sebastian stopped pacing. "What?"

"Ex fiancée. Blaine and I broke up." 

Now this was news Sebastian had somehow missed. "What?" He repeated. "Weren't you guys getting married in, like, September." As much as he'd seemed uncomfortable talking about the bashing, he seemed ten times more opposed to talking about this.

"That was part of the problem, actually." Kurt said reluctantly. "One of a host of problems it turns out. I'd rather not talk about it, please." He forced a smile. "Guess it's your lucky day, he's all yours if you want him." From his tone, it was clear that Kurt pitied any man that Blaine wanted next. 

Seb rolled his eyes. "Please. That's so high school. I haven't thought about Blaine like that in ages. Besides-" He stopped short, not sure that was a line he wanted to cross.

"Besides?" Kurt pressed, much to Sebastian's chagrin. But he was, and Seb would never admit it, kind of growing fond of the other man. It turned out maybe Kurt Hummel wasn't so insufferable as he once thought, perhaps even a little respectable. 

And so, like Kurt, he chose to go with the truth. "I didn't care about Blaine all that much, to be perfectly honest. That whole helmet head look he had going? Definitely not my type. I probably wouldn't have tried to see him again after that day in the Lima Bean but-" Here, he met Kurt's eye, and faltered on his words. "...but it was so much more fun to watch you squirm."

Kurt crinkled his eyebrows. "You went through all that effort- texting him, the whole Scandals thing, the slushie incident...just to mess with me?" He'd never admit it either, but he almost felt flattered. 

"Don't get overexcited, it was plenty fun for me to mess with both of you," Sebastian quickly responded. "Blaine was an easy target, he's annoyingly clingy isn't he?" Kurt nodded just as quickly. "I'm not...I'm not proud of it. It's shitty, no matter what I was going for. But you really don't think Blaine was the only one who left Dalton with a bit of a reputation, do you?"

It was clear Kurt had thought exactly that. "Look, who sounds more interesting? The perfect angel, not one hair out of place (literally), who sang lead for a couple years? Or the kid who transferred in for a few weeks, killed the group's bird, completely shook up the group dynamic, left, kicked our ass at Regionals, and then stole the angel away?"

"Hey, I maintain that Pavarotti died of natural causes beyond my control." Kurt argued. The pacing resumed. "Besides, what kind of school gives the new kid a bird to take care of?"

Sebastian continued, not entirely showing he had heard Kurt. "And then next thing you know, you see the ex-lead and the bird killer in a coffee shop, and apparently they're dating. Dalton's zero tolerance policy might be good if you're a nerd getting picked on, I don't know, but it does not brew nearly as much drama as that."

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy?" Kurt said with a smile, one of his first of the night.

"Oh there was definitely a lot of jealousy. Like I said, the worlds leading spokesperson for hairgel isn't exactly my dream guy. I wasn't in it for that." For a moment, everything felt almost normal. Like they were friends, not old acquaintances brought together by an ill timed gay bash in the middle of the night. Like they were friends, or perhaps...

"Who is?" Kurt asked, and Sebastian couldn't read his tone. 

"Who's what?"

"Your dream guy," Kurt said, managing to stand from the bed. Sebastian blushed a violent crimson and Kurt's heart skipped a beat at the sight. He didn't know Sebastian Smythe was capable of such an embarrassing human reaction as blushing. "If it's not Blaine (and God, I don't blame you), who is it?"

"I- I don't see how that's any of your business," Seb finally stammered out, though the response felt lame, even to him. He wasn't used to being the flustered one. Hell, he wasn't even sure why he was flustered.

"Come on," Kurt said and it came out in a whine. "I've been all kinds of vulnerable tonight- I was passed out in your lobby for God's sake. You got the one two punch of the fight and a tragic breakup." Even he wasn't sure why he cared so much.

"And who's fault is that?" Sebastian asked. He wasn't sure why he was so angry about that. Seb stepped forward so that they were less than arms length apart, looking down on Kurt. "Mr. Vigilante Justice here, running into a fight without a plan and then flinging yourself onto the first doorstep you come across. Maybe next time stick to fights you can win, I'm sure there's a fifth grader out there that'd be a fair match."

"Oh I'm so sorry to burden you, Mr All Important Smythe." Kurt mirrored Sebastian, stepping closer as well. "Sorry that some of us aren't heartless sell outs and actually care about other people. Maybe you should try it sometime, instead of chasing after taken guys just to toy with everyone's feelings." 

"There's a difference between caring about other people and being reckless, you idiot. You could've gotten killed, you realized that right? Those guys wouldn't have cared. Where would your justice have gotten you if you bled out on the pavement and died because you decided you were a fucking hero. Newsflash Kurt, sometimes when you're beaten you don't get back up."

"That's a fucking risk I was willing to take! I'd rather die out there than let someone else get beaten alone. If that makes me an idiot, if that makes me a wannabe hero, sue me. If you don't stand for anything you've already been knocked down."

He leaned in to punctuate that last point and stumbled, still not sure of his footing. On reflex, Sebastian rushed forward and looped his arms around Kurt's waist to keep him from tumbling to the ground. The anger dissipated rapidly, but there was still a fair dose of tension in the room.

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Oh, and I'm the hero? Mr. Dragged Me Upstairs and Nursed Me Back to Health? Mr Swept Me Off My Feet, literally? Sounds to me like you're the hero here mister-"

Sebastian finally shut him up, leaning down and kissing him hard.

**Author's Note:**

> I have to wake up in five hours but this felt more important teehee. Hope y'all enjoyed :)


End file.
